m1a1audi

I see where a lot of guys change the the fog light grilles a la these guys

08-12 Audi A5 Replacement Fog Light Grills - customcargrills.com

I like the look of the vented grilles; just looks higher quality without the simulated hexes or lines that don't really vent through to to cool the brakes and allow better airflow through and under the front air dam (presumably - I told you, I'm a noob) .

Wherein lies my question. When the fog light grilles are hollowed out, or replaced with a screen/mesh does it affect the aerodynamics of the car overall? I assume Audi designed the bumper/fenders/underside knowing that the solid pieces of plastic would surround the fog lights and deflect air around the car, not under it. If air is now rushing in there at 70 (or 110) mph how does that affect the forces on the rest of the car (I'm thinking air pressure outward on the fenders, downward on the bottom "skid plates", etc)?

I haven't looked closely at the S classes, but the ones that I have seen have solid plastic around the fog lights as well. Even a lot of the aftermarket parts (A5 to S5 body kits from Rieger, etc) leave the solid pieces in place around the fog lights...

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Travis.-

Waaazooo

Well, I have no cited reference for this... Just hypothesizing... When you allow the high pressure into the wheel wells you are changing the airflow around the car. If you don't funnel the air to specific area (brake cooling / exiting into a low pressure zone) then merely re-addressing the zones.

This might change the air flow properties in the engine compartment at high speeds... It might cause the gender liner attachments to make noise or fail (I doubt it).

C/N: yes it will change properties but not to an extreme that will be found under normal conditions.

Reasonably, I only thing it will allow the weather behind the scenes to do damage in the long run.